Button



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J.-A. PHILLIPS & G. S.BLUM,J1-.

BUTTON. No. 392,568. Patented Nov. 6, 1888.

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Mtn esses: Inventors.-

Joseph A. Phillips. Gamby S. BZumJr.

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JOSEPH A. PHILLIPS AND GUMBY S. BLUM, JR, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

BUTTON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 392,568, dated November6, 1888.

Application filed January 24, 1888. Serial No. 261,729. (No model.)

.To CLZZ whom. it may concern:

Be it known that we, Josnrrr A. PHILLIrs and GUMBY S. BLUM, J r.,citizens of the United States, residing at Baltimore, in the State ofMaryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvem-entsin Buttons;and we do hereby declare the following to bc a full, clear, and exactdescription ofthe invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to certain improve ments in buttons, and it hasreference more particularly to that class of buttons commonly known assuspender or pantaloon buttons, in which two metallic disks or shellsprovided with a suitable cross-bar or thread-support form the essentialparts of the button.

The object of our invention is to provide a button of this descriptionthe crossbar of which is so constructed as to withstand a veryconsiderable amount of strain or pressure without injury to the button,and in which the different parts of the button are firmly and rigidly.united.

A further object of our invention is to provide for such buttons across-bar made from a separate piece of sheet metal, constructed so asto lie as near as possible to the opening in the backplate of the buttonand combined therewith in such a manner as to prevent the bar fromrevolving and avoid injury to the thread holding the button to thegarment; also to so construct the various portions of the button as tosimplify the process of manufacture and assembling, thereby producing abutton that possesses the qualities of simplicity, strength, durability,and economy.

To this end our invention comprises a front disk or shell having acentral opening therein in the usual manner, a back shell having aprojecting hub, and an intermediate disk or cross-bar of peculiar form,and rigidly secured in place between the front and back of the button.

Our invention comprises certain other novel features, some of which willbe hereinafter described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters of referenceindicate like parts, Figure 1 is a top or face view of our improvedbutton; Fig. 2, a cross-section of same on line m 00 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3,a sectional elevation of the back shell; Fig. 4, a top or plan viewshowiug theintermediatc disk within the back shell; Figs. 5, 6, 7, and8, side elevations of the intermediate disk before the bendingoperation; Figs. 9 and 10, plan views of a modified form of cross-bar;Figs. 11 and 12, plan views of the disks shown, respectively, in Figs. 8and 7, showing the lips forming the tubular crossbar in the finisheddisks.

Referring to the drawings, A represents the front disk, with the edge ofits central opening turned downward toward the interior of the buttonand preferably outward, as shown, for the purpose of properly deflectingand guiding the needle in its passage through the button.

13 shows the rear disk or shell of the button, which is held in place bythe overlapping edge of the front disk, A, in the usual manner. Thisdisk is formed with a hub, 7), whose inner edge, I), is preferablyturned upward and outward within the interior of the hub, so as to forman eyelet-shaped opening that is free from sharp edges and presents asmooth passage for the thread, in a manner more particularly set forthin Patent No. 377 ,446, granted to us February 7, 1888.

0, Figs. 11 and 12, represents the central or intermediate disk, havinglips or ears 0 0 cut on either side of its central portion. disk 0 iscut from suitable sheet metal -such as brass or sheet-tin and the lips cc, after being out, are folded under the central portion of the disk toform the rounded tubular crossbar a. The lips shown in Fig. 12,whenfolded, form the straight bar represented in Figs. 6 and 7, while thecurved lips in Fig. 11 are converted into a curved or depressed bar, asillustrated in Fig. 8. The outer edges of the disk 0 are turned upwardto form the peripheral flange cZand are preferably so shaped as toconform to the interior contour of the back shell, B.

It will be seen by referring to Fig. 2 that the rounded portion of thebar 0 is of such length as to just fit within the walls of the huh I),and that its ends rest upon the depressed eyeletshaped flange b of saidhub. This construction not only brings the bar very close to the rearend of the button, but enables it to with- The stand a very considerableamount of strain without danger of bending or breaking. It will also benoticed that the flange c of the disk 0 extends slightly above the rimof the back B when placed within the latter. (See Figs. 2 and 4.) Bythis construction the disk and its bar are firmly pressed against theback 13 and its flange b, respectively, during the operation of closingthe button, and are thereby rigidly held in position between the frontand back disks and prevented from rotating.

It will be apparent that the disk 0 has but to be placed within the backB when assembling the buttons to find its own bearing, and that owing tothe flexibility of the center disk and the slightly-yielding nature ofthe flange b the pressure exerted upon the cross bar when in use willonly serve to render this bear ing more perfect and secure.

While we have described and prefer to make the bar-piece in the form ofa disk, we do not desire to limit ourselves to this form, as the bar maybe made in the form shown in Figs. 9 and 10. This style of bar,moreover, has certain advantages, as it can be manufaetur ed from acontinuous strip of sheet metal with comparatively little or no waste,permits of rapid manipulation, and can be made of any desired degree ofcurvature. The construction is fully and clearlyillustrated in thedrawings, the flanged end pieces,0, being clamped between the front andback disks, as shown in Fig. 2. In all the figures the bar is ofsufficient length to extend clear across the opening in the front andrear disks, and as every portion of the button with which theretaining-thread can come in contact is smoothly finished abrasion ofthe thread cannot take place. How ever-,we do not wish to be understoodaslimiting ourselves to the particular forms herein shown, as ourimprovements are equally applicable to buttons of differentconstruction.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A button comprising a front and back disk or shell and anintermediate disk of sheet metal conforming substantially in shape toand nesting within the back disk or shell, and provided with aroundedcentral portion forming the thread-bar of the button, and with anupwardly extending peripheral flange arranged and adapted to bearagainst the front disk or shell, substantially as and for the purposedescribed.

2. In a button, the combination, with the front disk, of the back diskhaving a projecting hub and interior flange and an intermediate disk ofsheet metal having a depending rounded central portion or thread bararranged to fit entirely within the said hub and to be partiallysupported by said flange, the edge or periphery of said intermediatedisk being turned upwardly against the front disk of the button,substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof we afflx our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

JOSEPH A. PHILLIPS. GUDIBY S. BLUM, JR.

'\Vitnesses:

O. M. YOUNG, W. H. WEIL.

